Mathura Dutt Joshi quits Cong, joins BJP
By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
DEHRADUN, 4 Jan: Veteran Congress leader and currently State vice-president (Organisation) of Uttarakhand Congress, Mathura Dutt Joshi late Friday night submitted his resignation from the party. Within next 24 hours of quitting the Congress, he joined the BJP, on Saturday in the presence of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at the BJP State headquarters here.
Before joining BJP, Joshi resigned from all his Congress posts and primary membership, submitting his resignation to Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge. In his resignation, Joshi expressed anguish over leaving the party he had served loyally for 48 years.
At the BJP headquarters, state president Mahendra Bhatt and other senior leaders welcomed Joshi.
On this occasion, Dhami asserted that the unopposed victory of 40 councillors, including three civic presidents, indicates that, like the double-engine government, the BJP is set to secure victories in most local bodies. Meanwhile, expressing concern, the state BJP president remarked that it is unfortunate how capable, decent, and dedicated workers are not respected within the Congress party.
During the joining programme held at the party headquarters on Balbir Road, notable leaders from the Congress party officially joined the BJP. These included State vice-president Mathura Dutt Joshi, former vice -president Bittu Karnataka, and two-time former District Panchayat president Jagat Singh Khati. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and State president Mahendra Bhatt welcomed the new members by presenting them with garlands and patkas, symbolizing their formal induction into the party.
Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister stated, that the party wholeheartedly welcomse all of you hardworking and qualified individuals to the world’s largest political party. He also expressed confidence that their energy and capabilities would significantly benefit the BJP in the upcoming civic elections. Criticizing the Congress leadership, the Chief Minister added that it seems that capable and virtuous individuals are not valued in their party.
Dhami remarked that Joshi‘s departure from Congress raises serious questions about the party, especially given Joshi‘s experience and dedication. Joshi‘s dissatisfaction stemmed from his wife not receiving the mayoral ticket in Pithoragarh Municipal Corporation, leading to his open rebellion and eventual resignation.
Mathura Dutt Joshi has been actively working with the Congress for last 48 years but has never been given any party ticket to contest assembly elections from Pithoragarh. Now he was demanding the Congress ticket for the post of Municipal Council Chairperson from Pithoragarh for his wife as the seat has been reserved for women. However, the party chose to give ticket to Anju Lunthi who had contested on the Congress ticket for the assembly constituency of Pithoragarh in the assembly byelection after Prakash Pant’s death but had lost to Chandra Pant, the widow of Prakash Pant. However, she was denied the ticket in 2022, which was given to the former MLA Mayukh Mahar who managed to defeat Chandra Pant and is currently the MLA.
It may be recalled that Mathura Dutt has been a sincere and very active Congress leader in the state. He was easily accessible to the media persons and regularly issued press statement on behalf of the party. Joshi’s departure from Uttarakhand Congress is being seen as a significant setback for the party. While there was already speculation in the media for past several days that Joshi may quit the party, the party obviously failed to make a sincere effort to appease him and prevent him from quitting the party. Incidentally, in past three years, a large number of senior Congress leaders including several past MLAs like Dinesh Aggarwal, Kishore Upadhyay, Dinesh Dhanai, Rajendra Bhandari, Malchand, Vijaypal Sajwan and other senior leaders like Jot Singh Bisht, Anukriti Gusain and Keshar Singh have quit the Congress and switched over to the BJP creating a huge setback for the party but also a big challenge for the BJP as there is a problem of plenty in the party right now. However, the BJP is taking this as a morale booster for the municipal elections in the state.
